DEMO: eM Client’s new version aims to replace Outlook

eM Client is one of 70 companies chosen by VentureBeat to launch at the DEMO Fall 2010 event taking place this week in Silicon Valley. After our selection, the companies pay a fee to present. Our coverage of them remains objective.

Microsoft’s Outlook has dominated the desktop email software market to date, but as the product ages, a few independent contenders are on their way up. One of them is Czech Republic-based eM Client, which is launching a new version of the product today at DEMO.

Like Outlook, eM Client looks to be a Grand Central for communication, letting users manage emails, calendars, contacts, and tasks through a Windows desktop client.

Its 2.7 release features Sync2eM, which allowes users to synchronize contacts and calendars from eM Client to mobile devices like the iPhone, Windows Mobile, and Android, over the air.

Aimed at both regular and business users, the product launched in January 2010 and has gained more than 70,000 installations in six months — an impressive milestone, considering the dominance of Outlook and the trendiness of Web-based email.

Although it seeks mostly to be a worthy Outlook alternative, the product goes beyond Microsoft’s by offering full integration of instant-messaging clients like Skype, Google Talk, and AIM within its sidebar, and better synchronization with email providers like Yahoo, Gmail, and Hotmail. The 2.7 release adds support for Facebook messaging.

Founded in 2007, eM Client has been under development for three years and left beta testing in January. The 10-employee startup is based in Czech Republic, but recently opened an office in Silicon Valley.